[3][4] He was Muslim by birth but his devotion for the Hindu God made Lord Jagannath stop his Ratha Jātrā (Rath Yatra) in Odisha for him to get darshan.
Nilamani Mishra, who has written a comprehensive account of the poet and his works, determines the birth of Salabega between circa AD 1607-1608.
After one year in Vraja (Vrindavana), he returned to Puri desiring to see the Ratha yatra festival of Jagannath, but on the way he suddenly fell ill.
Feeling helpless and realising that he would not reach Puri in time to see the Ratha yatra festival, he offered prayers to Jagannath petitioning Him to wait until he arrived.
Although the poet was denied entry into the temple, his descriptions of the inner compound and the sanctum are among the most detailed and accurate in the devotional literature of Odisha.
The poet refers, with deep anguish, to the depredations of the marauders in their attacks on Puri and the repeated attempts to loot and desecrate the Srimandira.
This frequently necessitated shifting the deities outside the main sanctum and the poet gives graphic details in the song Kene Gheni Jaucha Jagannathanku'.